Voluntary environmental actions in protected areas: An economic and institutional perspective

This project adopts an economic and institutional approach to understand how institutions affect the behavior and outcomes achieved by recreational users of natural protected areas. The responsibilities and tasks of the applicant researcher in the Nordlan d Research Institute (NRI) are defined according to the areas in which she can add more value to the research conducted in NRI, along with the background and previous experience of the candidate. The project is structured in three complementary research a reas: (1) Providing a strategic approach: Contrary to much previous research, this project captures that socioeconomic agents can systematically attempt to influence future decisions of others, and take into consideration the possibility that others may adjust their behavior strategically. This represents a methodological advance, enhancing the complexity and empirical validity of the results of the research on natural protected areas. (2) Analyzing social dilemmas: Previous research in the NRI has shown that certain uses of protected areas can be described as social dilemmas and are a source of social conflict. Traditional views would support privatization or public intervention as panacea solutions. This project builds on a broad and rapidly growing th eoretical, analytical and experimental literature addressed to analyze other possible institutional alternatives for overcoming social dilemmas, with a focus on natural protected areas. (3) Providing an integrative view: The project captures that the rela tion between natural resource users' behavior with the attributes of the institutional system and the characteristics of the protected areas is complex. This relation is yet not well understood and we aim to advance in it by applying the Social-Ecological -Systems Framework to natural protected areas in Norway. This framework will also enhance the cohesion of the research undertaken in the NRI on the economic and social value of natural protected areas.